Corporation for Public Broadcasting Travel Management Services Request for Proposals Due: September 21, 2015 at 5 p.m. EST

Transcription

1 Corporation for Public Broadcasting Travel Management Services Request for Proposals Due: September 21, 2015 at 5 p.m. EST The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) seeks to contract with a travel management company (TMC) that can provide a complete range of travel management services to meet the needs of CPB s travelers. CPB has recently purchased Concur Travel s business travel and expense management software. Accordingly, as a minimum requirement your firm must be a Concur Travel partner and able to train CPB staff on the use of Concur Travel. Below is a summary of CPB s current travel data. CPB anticipates its future needs to be at this or a higher volume. The selected TMC should have the capacity to support the same. Average annual air spend $165,000 Average annual number of ticketed transactions (2014) 689 Total annual travel budget (including all components) $370,000 The contract will extend for a period of three years, with the option, at CPB s sole discretion, to extend the term for two additional one-year terms. I. CPB The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is a private, not-for-profit corporation created by Congress in It is the steward of the federal government s investment in public broadcasting. While helping to support the operations of more than 1,400 locally owned and locally operated public television and radio stations nationwide, it also funds the creation and acquisition of diverse and innovative programming that is effective, educational, and cultural. CPB is the largest single source of funding for research, technology and program development for public radio, television and related online services. This funding and research help to make U.S. public broadcasting a trailblazer for communications media worldwide. For more information, visit: Page 1

2 II. Proposal Requirements Applicants must separate their technical and cost proposals. A. Technical Proposals: Applicants technical proposals must include the following information in the order specified: 1. Executive Summary: A high-level introduction to your firm. Please explain how your firm is different from your competitors and the right travel partner for CPB (two page maximum). 2. Corporate History: Detailed information about your firm, including but not limited to the following: current ownership, number of years in business; and detailed information about any changes in ownership over the past five years, including any mergers or acquisitions. 3. Call Centers: Detailed description of each call center, including: location and hours of operation; staffing - each staff s title, responsibilities, length of employment, and whether based at home; staff availability for after-hours support; and an explanation of how emergencies during normal working hours and after hours are managed and by which staff. 4. Supplier Relationships: Describe your existing preferred supplier relationships with airlines, hotels, rental car companies, office automation, reporting systems, and charge card suppliers. 5. Service Configurations: Describe the service configurations your firm provides, addressing all aspects of the service including staffing (e.g. ratio of transactions/agent), reservations method, document distribution, GDS automation, other automation, communication process with traveler/travel arranger, and quality control process. 6. Online Booking: Please provide the following information: Provide the elapsed time from booking to itinerary issuance; Describe cancellation, void, refunds, and the cost and process for exchanging purchased tickets and hotel reservations; Describe how rates are negotiated for flights and hotels; and Describe the manual or automated steps that will be taken to comply with CPB s practice of obtaining the lowest available cost for tourist or economy class travel for the requested itinerary. Page 2

3 7. Implementation & Support: Describe the process for transitioning from CPB s current travel provider and use of Concur Travel to services provided by the applicant. Describe support services, including the training that will be provided to CPB staff annually and the tools that will be made available for CPB to use for booking and technical support. 8. Management Reports: Describe the reporting tools and reports (including the type, frequency, timing, and delivery of the reports) that will be provided to or made available to CPB. Specifically, explain how soon each report will be made available after the reporting period, whether the reports will be provided in real-time, and CPB s access to the data and ability to manipulate the same. 9. Implementation: Describe the implementation plan, strategy, and timeline for transitioning CPB to the applicant s travel service. Identify the roles and responsibilities of each person who will be involved in the transition process; and Identify the most critical factors to a successful implementation. 10. Examples: Provide examples of the proposed service level agreement. 11. Corporate Interfaces: Describe the manner in which the applicant s firm interfaces with tertiary carriers automation (e.g. Southwest Airlines). 12. Four References: Provide the names, addresses, and telephone numbers for two customers whot will act as a reference. Each reference should be for an account similar in size to CPB for which recent implementations were completed. In addition, provide the same information for two clients recently lost for reasons other than consolidation. B. Cost Proposals Cost Proposals must specify your firm s proposed pricing structure for each service you will provide to CPB, including but not limited to the following: Phone and response time, hold time and callback standards, along with credits provided for failing to meet these standards; Unused ticket tracking; Refunds; and Incentives for booking preferred agency vendors. Page 3

4 III. Evaluation Criteria Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria with the associated weigh:. Applicant s technical proposal and ability to provide the required services (20%); The reliability of Applicant s call-center, staffing, and emergency resources (20%); The reliability of Applicant s online booking process, and the firm s ability to consistently secure low fares consistent with CPB s travel policy (20%); Quality of the references provided. Applicants not providing all four references will receive a score of zero (15%); and Reasonableness of the applicant s cost proposal (25%). IV. Proposal Submission Technical proposals must be provided to Helen Sauvage, senior director, meeting & event services at hsauvage@cpb.org and Cost Proposals should be provided to Jackie Livesay, assistant general counsel & vice president, compliance, at: jlivesay@cpb.org. All questions should be provided via to Ms. Sauvage. CPB will post the questions, without attribution, and its responses on CPB s website. CPB may request the top scoring applicants to meet with CPB to present their proposal and demo of their system at CPB s offices in Washington, D.C. If so, CPB will notify applicants to schedule these meetings. CPB anticipates selecting a vendor by the end of September and completing the contracting process no later than October 1, V. CPB Terms General Terms Proposals submitted in response to this RFP by an applicant shall be valid for at least 90 days following the closing date of proposals. Proposals shall be prepared simply and economically, providing a straightforward, concise description of the applicant's proposals to meet the requirements of this RFP. Neither multiple nor alternate proposals will be accepted. An applicant should give specific attention to the clear identification of those portions of its proposal that it considers confidential, proprietary commercial information or trade secrets. The selected applicant shall be responsible for all products and services required by this RFP. Subcontractors must be identified and a complete description of their role relative to the proposals must be included in the applicant s proposals. By submitting an offer in response to this RFP, an applicant, if selected for award, shall be deemed to have accepted the terms of this RFP. Any exceptions to this RFP must be clearly identified in the proposal. A proposal that takes exception to these terms may be rejected. Page 4

5 As part of the RFP review process, CPB may share materials, data, other information and analyses (collectively, Information ) with applicants. As a condition of receiving such Information, applicants responding to this RFP shall be deemed to agreed to protect, preserve and maintain all such Information on a strictly confidential basis, and to promptly return to CPB upon its request all tangible copies of such Information in your possession. CPB is not responsible for loss or damage to material submitted with or in support of this RFP. Any submission to CPB shall become the property of CPB (not including any intellectual property rights contained in such submission), and CPB is not required to return any submitted materials to any applicant. CPB is not responsible for any violation of copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, or other rights that may result from disclosure made by response to this RFP. Solicitation by CPB of proposals does not constitute an agreement by CPB to extend funding to any party for the project under consideration. CPB may, in its sole discretion, elect not to pursue this project in any manner. By submitting a proposal, each applicant grants to CPB the right to duplicate, use, disclose, and distribute all of the materials submitted for purposes of evaluation, review, and research. In addition, each applicant guarantees that the applicant has full and complete rights to all of the information and materials included in the proposal. Each applicant also guarantees that all such materials are not defamatory and do not infringe upon or violate the privacy rights, copyrights, or other proprietary rights of any third party. Conditions of Agreement If a proposal in response to this RFP is selected for funding, applicants will be required to sign a binding agreement. Until both parties have signed an agreement, no express or implied commitment has been made to provide financial support. applicants are not authorized to commence work until the agreement is fully executed. If applicants opt to commence work, they do so at their own risk. No oral or written statement other than the signed, written agreement will govern or modify the relationship. As a condition of agreement, applicants must guarantee that, among other things, any work they undertake on behalf of CPB is not defamatory and will not violate or infringe upon the privacy rights, copyrights, or other proprietary rights of any third party. Applicants must also agree to indemnify CPB against any loss resulting from breach of any of the guarantees contained in the agreement. Those receiving funds from CPB must be able to comply with a number of requirements that will be included in the operative agreement. These requirements include but are not limited to: Page 5

6 (1) A demonstration of adequate financial support to complete the work for which they have been contracted and to deliver reports and/or other intellectual property created pursuant to the Agreement; (2) Maintenance, for 3 years following receipt of relevant funds, of all financial records to the project, which records shall be accessible to CPB, and to the U.S. Comptroller General or other representatives for examination and audit purposes. (Applicants will additionally ensure that any subcontractors or consultants under the agreement shall also maintain such records for the period specified and under the same terms); (3) Maintenance, for 3 years after approval of a final financial report, of a complete file of all subcontracts and other agreements, licenses, clearances, and other documents related to the work undertaken, copies of which shall be made available to CPB on request; (4) Submission to CPB of a copy of any U.S. Comptroller General final audit report in connection with the project; (5) Compliance with equal employment opportunity and nondiscrimination laws and policies; (6) applicants will be required to provide documentation as to actual costs; (7) All research and materials created, developed, compiled or produced pursuant to or as a result of this project (including but not limited to all reports) will be considered ordered and commissioned by CPB as works made for hire under the copyright laws, and made in the course of services rendered. If, for any reason, the proposed research and materials to be provided are not considered works made for hire under the copyright laws, then the applicant will be required to assign all right, title and interest in and to such research and materials to CPB. applicants further agree that neither they, nor any of their subcontractors, will have any copyrights or other intellectual property rights whatsoever in any research and/or materials created, developed, compiled or produced by them or by any subcontractor, or by any third party participating in the preparation of research or materials for this project. (8) The agreement will be governed by construed in accordance with the laws of the District of Columbia without regard to its conflict of law provisions. Other material terms and provisions will be set forth in the documents provided to the applicant that successfully completes the selection process. CPB will have complete rights to the reports created as deliverables for this project. Page 6

7 CPB will not be responsible for any costs incurred by an applicant in preparing and submitting a proposal, or in performing any other activities relative to this solicitation. *** Page 7